Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the overall performance of the National Crime Agency during its first year of total operation in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Bates
Since 20 May 2015, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has been operating with full powers in Northern Ireland. As the NCA recently reported to the Northern Ireland Policing Board on 16 December 2015, from 01 April 2015 up to 30 September 2015, the NCA has recorded 29 disruptions against organised crime groups and high priority threats operating in Northern Ireland. The scope of the NCA’s crime-fighting capability within the jurisdiction has expanded. The NCA has worked in partnership with the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the support that the NCA provides law enforcement partners, particularly the PSNI has been enhanced.
The Crime and Courts Act 2013 (National Crime Agency and Proceeds of Crime) (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 requires the Northern Ireland Policing Board to monitor the exercise of the functions of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland. The interim Memorandum of Understanding between the National Crime Agency and the Northern Ireland Policing Board states the Board is required, not later than six months after the end of each financial year, to issue a report relating to the policing of Northern Ireland for the next financial year. The report will include an assessment of the exercise of the functions of the NCA in Northern Ireland.
The NCA is committed to playing its role in tackling serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland. Hence, the NCA will be fully engaged in delivering the commitment outlined in the ‘A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ to a concerted and enhanced effort to combat serious and organised and cross border crime.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps are being taken to curb gang culture across the UK.
Answered by Lord Bates
Ending gang violence and exploitation is a priority for the Government and on 13 January 2016 we published a paper setting out our refreshed approach. This has a twin focus concerned with both reducing violence, including knife crime, and protecting vulnerable individuals from exploitation by gangs. The full refreshed approach can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ending-gang-violence-and-exploitation.
This builds on our work since 2012 when we introduced the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme aimed and targeted at supporting local areas building their resilience and ability to respond to gangs. Since 2012, we have worked with 52 local areas facing problems associated with gangs through supporting peer reviews to identify the main local challenges.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of (1) crime against older people, and (2) fear of crime amongst older people; and what steps they are taking to address both the incidence and fear of crime against older people.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office has made no specific assessment of the level of crime against older people, and fear of crime amongst older people. The attached tablesshow figures from the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year to March 2015 for (1) the percentage of adults in each age group who were victims of crime, and (2) the percentage of adults in each age group who had high levels of worry about crime.
Police reform is working and the Crime Survey shows that overall crime is down by more than a quarter since 2010. We continue to develop the role of our elected and accountable Police and Crime Commissioners to shape policing services to local needs and priorities, as they are now doing in commissioning victims’ services, setting policing priorities and driving reform.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of immigration into the United Kingdom across the land border with the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Routine immigration controls are not conducted on the land border between the UK and Republic of Ireland. However, the Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is a high level of collaboration on work with Ireland to strengthen the Common Travel Area’s external border.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their proposed counter-extremism legislation will apply to Northern Ireland and dissident republicans.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Counter-Extremism Bill will introduce new powers to tackle all forms of extremism, including Banning Orders to outlaw extremist groups and Extremism Disruption Orders to restrict the harmful activity of extremist individuals.
We are considering the territorial extent of the proposed Bill, which will be introduced to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unresolved (1) asylum, and (2) immigration, cases there have been in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland since May 2010.
Answered by Lord Bates
The number of outstanding asylum claims recorded as associated with each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency can be found in in the attached table 1. The figures that have been provided relate to main applicants who have made an asylum claim between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2015 whose claim was recorded as unresolved where an individual is either awaiting an initial decision on their claim, in the appeal process or considered to be a failed asylum seeker.
The number of outstanding immigration cases recorded as associated with each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency can be found in the attached table 2. The figures that have been provided relate to main applicants who have made an immigration application between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2015, whose application was recorded as unresolved where an initial decision had not been served or was made after 31 March 2015.
The data has been compiled using a breakdown of the latest published statistics, by identifying the latest valid postcode on the Case Information Database (CID). For Northern Ireland postcodes, this was then matched to the ONS Postcode database to associate it with a parliamentary constituency and local authority as far as possible. This postcode is the most recently recorded postcode for correspondence purposes and may not be represent the applicant’s of place of residence or be the same postcode provided at the time of applying. For example, this may be the solicitor or immigration advisor of the applicant. For data protection purposes, cohorts of fewer than 10 people have been indicated with a *.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that police forces are properly trained to respond to cybercrime.
Answered by Lord Bates
Cyber attacks, including cyber crime, are a Tier One threat to national security, and the Government is investing £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to respond. Of this, over 10% is being invested in building law enforcement capabilities to tackle cyber crime. This has been used to build capability at the national, regional, and local level. NCSP funding is being used to train officers in the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency (NCA), and cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units so that officers are able to investigate the most serious cases of cyber crime. Over 3,500 NCA officers have completed Digital Awareness training, as part of equipping the next generation of highly skilled digital detectives.
We are also delivering training in cyber crime to officers in local police forces. The College of Policing has designed four training modules on cyber crime aimed at police officers and staff, on cyber, digital and social media. Since they were rolled out in 2013, over 150,000 of these modules have been completed. The College and police forces have also been delivering a classroom-based course to police investigators, which gives them the understanding of how to exploit intelligence and evidential opportunities offered by technology, social networking and communications data.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been apprehended when illegally entering the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland at the border with the Republic of Ireland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Bates
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 26th January 2015, to Question 221443 given by my hon. Friend the Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 3 February on the National Crime Agency, when they expect that Agency to be fully operational in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Bates
The National Crime Agency (NCA) operates UK-wide, including in Northern Ireland, and provides support to its partner agencies there in relation to customs and immigration matters whilst continuing to exchange information with the PSNI. The NCA has, to date, been unable fully to target serious and organised crime groups in Northern Ireland involved in activities which require policing powers to tackle them.
The draft Crime and Courts Act 2013 (National Crime Agency and Proceeds of Crime) (Northern Ireland) Order 2015, was laid before Parliament on 29 January 2015. It makes provision for the NCA to operate in Northern Ireland with full powers including the ability to recover criminal assets in relation to offences that are devolved, together with the ability to request the recovery of assets overseas in civil recovery cases.
This will make Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK a safer place and means the most serious criminals can be pursued wherever they are. The Order details commencement of the provisions, some of which will come into force the day after it is made, including the extension to Northern Ireland of all of the relevant civil recovery provisions relating to freezing and recovery orders. The related civil recovery investigation powers will require further secondary legislation relating to a Code of Practice.
A number of provisions that relate to the NCA’s operational use of constable powers and covert techniques, which will be subject to a Memorandum of Understanding, will come into force at the end of two months beginning with the day on which the Order is made. The Order may not be made until it has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff were employed in HM Passport Office in Belfast in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Bates
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed in the Belfast Passport Office in each of the last five years.
| March 2010 | March 2011 | March 2012 | March 2013 | March 2014 | |
| FTEs | 171 | 163 | 160 | 182 | 205 |